At first, I didn't want to mention anything about this topic (because this topic has been shown on the Internet constantly), but it has been about 10 years since I made an in-depth commentary on the topic on relationships and the gender war scam harming both men and women worldwide. Something in my subconscious mind inspired me to write on this subject. I dedicate these words to my black ancestors, my friends, and my community including all freedom loving people of the world (who are of every color and background). I want to make this information as a way to reflect my views on this issue in 2023. The gender war situation is a lie that believes that humans of the opposite sex are eternal enemies that must be scapegoated, scorned, dehumanized, and rejected as equal human beings (perpetual conflict is promoted instead of rational solutions in unifying the human family in love, community, and togetherness). I still have the same views back then of rejecting gender war misinformation and propaganda. Over 10 years ago, I refuted sexists on the Internet on relationship topics, and I will continue to do so. When did this nonsense start? Thousands of years ago, human beings existed in the world fighting for survival. Civilizations grew rapidly in the four corners of the Earth. By the time of the Holocene epoch (or the start of our modern era of world history), the Ice Age ended, and the rising sea temperature grew. When civilizations grew in the Africa, Asia, Europe, the Americas, and Australia (like ancient Egypt, ancient Sumeria, ancient China, ancient Olmec culture, ancient Nubia, ancient Greece, etc.). There were similarities in these cultures from temples, language, and societal roles, because we humans have the same origin. Back in the ancient times, there were righteous people who treated men and women as equals, but even back then there was massive oppression against men and women. The minimization of the power and importance of women always causes harm to civilization because no one is free until all people are free to achieve their destinies as human beings. That is why I believe that women collectively suffer more oppression than men collectively because of the dynamics of sexism (and other factors) which has existed throughout human history. In modern times, we have an epidemic of rape in America, Europe, India, and worldwide. Statistics back this up. For example, according to the CDC, over half of all women and almost 1 in 3 men experienced sexual violence involving physical contact during their lifetimes. One in 4 women and about 1 in 26 men according to the CDC have experienced rape or attempted rape in America. 1 in 3 women and about 1 in 9 men experienced sexual harassment in a public place. These are the just the cases being reported, so the statistics are much higher among women and men. This doesn't mean that men don't experience rape, but statistics document how women suffer more rape than men. No man and no woman should be raped, abused, or oppressed period. Laws made to prevent equality among the sexes existed long before America was a nation. In ancient Rome, women couldn't vote or hold political office. During the Medieval times in Europe, many women were unfairly treated as a vassal. There was many equal status given to women in many pre-agricultural societies. In U.S. law, American women were not legally defined as "persons" until 1875 (in Minor v. Happersett, 88 U.S. 162). This reality doesn't mean that men suffered nothing, but it does mean that history proves that misogyny and patriarchal capitalist supremacist systems have harmed societies for centuries and thousands of years. Nothing is new under the sun.
Social movements for human equality stood up for centuries and thousands of years. Rational people agree with women having the right to vote, but that never existed in America until the 20th century. Rational people agree with women owning homes and having jobs with equal pay, but tons of women didn't have those opportunities as late as the early to mid 20th century, especially black women. Some women don't have true equal pay now in 2023. Feminism got incels, manosphere types, and other sexists so angry that that word is like the most offensive word to them. They believe in the lie that feminism itself is responsible to all problems men deal with and all things under the sun. The truth is that feminism is very diverse, and the concept of feminism just means equality among all sexes and backgrounds. The common lie promoted by manosphere types is that since white racist feminists and suffragettes exist in the world (or agents like former CIA agent Gloria Steinem and even Susan Brownmiller lied about Emmett Till as a potential rapist), so feminism falls apart as a social ideology. The truth is that white racist suffragettes have abhorrent views and should not be respected, but many women supported the right to vote and equality from Ida B. Wells (who exposed white racist suffragettes) to Fannie Lou Hamer. Feminism doesn't mean hatred of men, but it does acknowledge male privilege and the role of some men (not every man) in the oppression of women. I think nuisance is omitted by the sexist crowd. Later, by the end of the 20th century and the 21st century, sexism has been promoted by corporations, shock jocks, YouTube personalities, and other controversial people. Tom Leykis is one of the old school sexists who used his radio platform to promote sexism and stereotypes about women. Red pill advocates, MGTOW advocates, and others in that crew have differences, but they are similar in having hostility towards women, embracing negative stereotypes of women (which has lied that women don't know STEM, every woman is selfish, every woman hates a righteous man, etc.), and seeks men to be Machiavellian in having advancement.
The reality is that men and women should be themselves and have a sense of power and altruism in making the world better by their own merit. The MGOTW movement is wrong, because they embrace the most negative views about women without realizing the diverse personalities of women. Also, there is no benefit in permanent isolation as the improve of humanity can come by connection, development, and a sense of purpose in helping people. Women aren't machines in a slot machine that you can push a button to make wishes come true. Women are human beings with intellects, feelings, and value that ought to be respected. These characteristics define men too. Many women haters and misogynists are popular among a certain segment of the world's population like Andrew Tate and even the late Kevin Samuels advocated domestic discipline against women (which is domestic violence. Kevin Samuels also disrespected women's physical appearances and implied that black women are less attractive which is a lie. Black women are the most beautiful women on Earth in my view). Recently Andrew Tate has been accused of sex trafficking in Europe. The pickup artist propaganda (in advancing nefarious principles) is known to ruin many relationships. There are many red flags for sexists who lecture women on how to be women (when women are perfectly qualified on speaking about womanhood by themelves by birth), on talking about high and low value people (when all people are created equal) and promote colorism (when beauty is diverse found in all hues, especially in black people. Eurocentric beauty standards is antithetical to truth). Many sexists are promoted by YouTube and corporate power from DJ Akademiks (who disrespected SZA and claims to be the "prize". He is a Trump supporter too who sometimes gets drunk and curses anyone out who disagrees with him), Charleston White, etc. As for black people, black women and black men aren't responsible for the Maafa, the War on Drugs, and other evils in our communities. In recent decades, many sexists promote the lie that black single mothers are responsible for family dysfunction and all problems in the black community in general. That is false as black single mothers are victims of a white racist system that harms both black men and black women in similar plus different ways. Misogyny harms men too. In fact, misogyny (which spreads by capitalist exploitation) causes the crisis of many men, because some men believe in the myth that they must be brutes, aggressive in a toxic way, and intolerable to be a "real man." Many in the manosphere are right that there is a crisis among men, but they are wrong on the origin and solution of this problem. Authors like Scott Galloway, Annie Lowrey, and Christine Emba wrote on this crisis in men in articles and books. These men and women are scholars and experts who have done their research. For example, boys start school less prepared than girls and less likely to graduate from high school and attend or graduate from college.
One in seven men reports having no friends. Three of every four deaths of despair in America are men dying from suicides and drug overdoses. Boys have fewer male role models. The prison industrial complex has harmed men, including black men, for decades in America alone. The prison system is filled with rape, abuse, exploitation, corruption, and psychological trauma inflicted on human life. Toxic masculinity is not true masculinity. True masculinity is about developing power, integrity, and positive influences to help, protect, and advocate for human beings not oppressing anyone. The crisis among men caused many men to have trouble expressing communication cogently with people, and many men fall prey to incels, xenophobes, and other extremists like Andrew Tate, Anton Daniels, Tariq Nasheed, Charleston White, etc. This crisis is not caused by women but by a cutthroat system that focuses on dehumanization instead of respect for all human life. What is the solution to end this crisis? There must be investments in apprenticeships and trade schools for men and women, there must be investments in more male positive role models to help boys, there must be a progressive promotion of mental health programs for men and boys, economic progressive policies must exist, and there must be education in social conduct among boys and men (in forming relationships, cultural groups, religious groups, and meeting people in general). Education about intellectual growth, health development, and emotional strength is key in inspiring men and women to reach their highest potentials as human beings. We are human, we are bio-chemical beings, we have a prefrontal cortex filled with intellectual power, and we are born to be social.
The incel crew falsely blame women or feminism for relationship problems and their solutions are further entrenchment of misogyny. Some have gone beyond words to rape, assault, and murder women for decades now. The truth is that we have a crisis among men and women in an evolving world. Women suffer oppression too from rape, pay inequality, lax maternity leave for mothers, sexual harassment, and degradation in media and other forms of entertainment. With automation and deindustrialization, many people lost their jobs or went into new jobs in a changing capitalistic economy. After World War II, veterans came back to America from Europe, Africa, and America. Families grown and the suburbs grew, but racial oppression and sexual exploitation existed. The Bible of the manosphere and sexists is the Moynihan Report of 1965. I prefer the Kerner Commission report of 1967 than the Moynihan Report (which promoted the lie that single black women and black culture from the legacy of slavery, not the system of racism and economic oppression are responsible for many of the social problems in black families. Many scholars have debunked the report for years and decades). Dnaiel Patrick Moynihan is wrong, because racial inequality is not caused by a specific family structure (as both nuclear and single families can raise amazing children into great men and women) but in the political economy and institutional racism. African American activists like Pauli Murray criticized the report as promoting increasing economic opportunities for black men at the expense of getting rid of jobs to black women. The truth is that black men and black women deserve jobs and economic opportunities. The Moynihan Report made the misogynoir myth that tons of black women have it made in 1965 when that isn't the case at all. Merrillee A. Dolan and other scholars have refuted the report too. The policies of the War on Drugs, redlining, discrimination, welfare reform, and other actions harmed black communities for decades and centuries not black women collectively or black men collectively. Men and women aren't monolithic. There are evil men and evil women from Candace Owens to Jesse Lee Peterson. Yet, evil people existing doesn't mean that men and women can never change. You have to give people the chance to change and be better human beings despite the past. According to black feminist scholar and activist Frances Beal in her work Double Jeopardy in 1969, this shows the dynamics of oppression against black men and black women:
"...Certain black men are maintaining that they have been castrated by society but that black women somehow escaped this persecution and even contributed to this emasculation. Let me state here and now that the black woman in America can justly be described as a "slave of a slave." By reducing the black man in America to such abject oppression, the black woman had no protector and was used, and is still being used in some cases, as the scapegoat for the evils that this horrendous system has perpetrated on black men. Her physical image has been maliciously maligned; she has been sexually molested and abused by the white colonizer; she has suffered the worst kind of economic exploitation, having been forced to serve as the white woman's maid and wet nurse for white offspring while her own children were more often than not, starving and neglected. It is the depth of degradation to be socially manipulated, physically raped, used to undermine your own household, and to be powerless to reverse this syndrome.
It is true that our husbands, fathers, brothers and sons have been emasculated, lynched and brutalized. They have suffered from the cruellest assault on mankind that the world has ever known. However, it is a gross distortion of fact to state that black women have oppressed black men. The capitalist system found it expedient to enslave and oppress them and proceeded to do so without signing any agreements with black women.
It must also be pointed out at this time, that black women are not resentful of the rise to power of black men. We welcome it. We see in it the eventual liberation of all black people from this corrupt system under which we suffer. Nevertheless, this does not mean that you have to negate one for the other. This kind of thinking is a product of miseducation; that it's either X or it's Y. It is fallacious reasoning that in order the black man to be strong, the black woman has to be weak.
Those who are exerting their "manhood" by telling black women to step back into a domestic, submissive role are assuming a counter-revolutionary position. Black women likewise have been abused by the system and we must begin talking about the elimination of all kinds of oppression. If we are talking about building a strong nation, capable of throwing off the yoke of capitalist oppression, then we are talking about the total involvement of every man, woman, and child, each with a highly developed political consciousness. We need our whole army out there dealing with the enemy and not half an army...."
The common argument by sexists is that since unmarried birth rates increasing because single mothers are to blame. The truth is that according to Ta-Nehisi Coates's article, "Understanding Out of Wedlock Births in Black America," there is a high number of children born by unmarried mothers, the birthrate for black women has declined, and married women of every color are going down by percentage (since 1970). So, the trend is that less people are getting married (among every color in America) because of conscious choices not because of a conspiracy of single mothers to ruin the black community. If we want more marriage rates in America, then we have to change the policies that invest in growing marriages not using force to make people get married if they don't want to. Likewise, children need parents. Mothers and fathers are important, so mothers and fathers should always be given just tools in raising their children. The large corporations causing wealth inequality and gentrification didn't originate from black single mothers or feminists but the corporate 1 percent. When you see a person blaming black men or black women collectively for every problem in the black community, that person is an agent like Tommy Sotomayor (who sexualized the death of black people and made outrageous sexist comments for over 10 years now) and Cynthia G (who called Fantasia ugly and said 90 percent of all black men are trash, and Cynthia G has a hatred of those who believe in God. For the record, Fantasia is a very beautiful black woman). What does a divestor mean? Divestors are different from most people involved in an interracial relationship or non-interracial relationships because they have love for a human being. Divestors are people who date and marry the opposite sex of another race, because they believe in the myth that a black person of the opposite sex collectively is inferior intellectually or socially to non-black people.
They have a hostility to not only Black Love but the black community in general. Divestors, MGTOW, and passport bros (who are wrong to stereotype American black women as collectively inconsiderate, aggressive, and disrespectful so they date women overseas with a passport) have differences, but they are similar in having stereotypes about black Americans of the opposite sex, having no concern of promoting black liberation (they don't talk about the need to help black women with maternity disparities, and they don't talk about the need to deal with many black men and mental health issues), and some don't care if the black community becomes extinct. This is extreme madness, but we don't have to follow the path of extinction. We want black people to grow and flourish in future generations and part of that is by building up black families including the growth of the black population in general.
Now, we know the problems and what are the solutions? The solution is multifaceted. First, it's our responsibility as adults to do the right thing and to teach boys and girls the basics about responsibility, accountability, ethics, autonomy, consent, integrity, and positive social conduct that helps communities. We have to teach them when they are young that human autonomy and consent will always be important to live by and promote. Second, a holistic culture must be advanced where men and women have the right to pursue their dreams without oppression, without discrimination, and without bigotry or racism of any kind. We have to advocate for laws and policies to eliminate structures of oppression and discrimination. The more evil systems are gone, the more all humans benefit, regardless of sex. Mentorships and programs of uplift must be available for boys, girls, men, and women to cater to their needs and aspirations. Historically, many role models have saved the lives of men and women for centuries and thousands of years. Role models matter. Also, more men have to be allies to women and other oppressed groups not only by words but by deeds. Those deeds are about mentoring a young woman in a job or a young black person (or young person of any background), standing up against sexist speech in public and in private (whether in Internet forums or in the street), showing respect to any human being, and investing time to cultivate a culture of tolerance, excellence, and human dignity. We want any human being to be free and express their talents to the world safely.
Consent matters. No one is entitled to a relationship. No one is entitled to sex. People have the right to be attracted and date who they want. No one is entitled to any human's body. We are entitled to liberty, justice, equality, and the pursuit of happiness. That principle and the Golden Rule must always be lived on a daily basis. Building better relationships does require self-reflection, learning how to undue pass trauma (even going to therapy if necessary), and building yourself up emotionally. One major solution in ending gender war nonsense is honest communication among men and women about our issues, aspirations, and dreams without personal attacks. Honest dialogue forming common ground will go a long way than WWE fake ad hominem attack nonsense. We need to further invest in programs helping girls and women to pursue STEM Fields, other jobs, and other methods for them to reach their goals in life. Improving oneself should be about you doing it, not to fulfill some fantasy of revenge or egoism. Being better (emotionally, health-wise, intellectually, financially, socially, and spiritually) makes you feel better in every aspect of human living. Relationships should be about mutual respect and mutual love not a case of letting negative baggage toxify a relationship. Relationships reflect commonality and dating people with similar interests and personalities can work. It's cliche but being yourself matters. Most people will respect you more if you're authentically you than if you fake an image to the world. Life is never easy, but life is not impossible to live a better life than the past. Treating people with dignity and respects shines a great light from Almighty God on you.
During the 2000's, gospel songs about celebrating and worshiping God were commonplace. Smokie Norful was very young when he released the song of I Need You Know in 2002. The Tri-City Singers released the song of Encourage Yourself. Donnie McClurkin increased his presence in the gospel world with songs like Great is Your Mercy in 2000 and Church Medley in 2004. Kelly Price has a long history in the gospel music movement. He had songs like in 2006 called Nobody but Jesus. The Dallas Fort Worth Mass Choir in 2003 had the song of I'd Rather Have Jesus. The legendary gospel musician released the song of The Blood Will Never Lose Its Power. By the 21st century, the Clark Sisters made many live performances like the Blessed and Highly Favored Live. Yolanda Adams had the album of Believe in the 21st century with music like I'm Gonna Be Ready. Part of the Sheard gospel family is the singer Kierra Sheard with the song of You Don't Know from the album of I Owe You. Lynda Randle had the song of God on the Mountain. Fred Hammond had the song They That Wait featuring John P. Kee. By the 2000s, Tamela Mann made her own solo career with songs like Hallelujah.
By the 2010's, gospel artists of the younger generation wanted to express their views and build on their legacies too. During this decade, the young gospel artist Jonathan McReynolds made the song of God is God. One of the anthems of the 2010's decade is Take Me to the King by Tamela Mann (featuring Kirk Franklin). Another anthem of the decade was Kirk Franklin's song of I Smile in the 2010's. 2nd Win was the song from Kierra Sheard. Your Spirit was music from Tasha Cobbs Leonard. Marvin Sapp made the song of My Testimony. Bleed the Same was music from the singer Mandisa from her album of Out of The Dark. Charles Jenkins and Fellowship Chicago had the song of Keep The Faith.
The 1959 Ben Hur movie starred Charlton Heston, Jack Hawkins, Haya Harreet, Stephen Boyd, Hugh Griffith, Martha Scott, Cathy O'Donnell, and Sam Jaffe. It was directed by William Wyler, its screenplay was written by Karl Tunberg, and the movie was based on the book of Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ by author Lew Wallace. Ben Hur's music was scored by the legendary composer Miklos Rozsa. Rozsa made some of the greatest scores in human history. At the time, Ben Hur had the largest budget of any film produced with a 15.75 million dollar budget. Filming started on May 18, 1958, and it ended on January 7, 1959. There were over 200 camels and 2,500 horses were in the shooting of the film with about 10,000 extras. Ben Hur premiered at Loew's State Theater in New York City on November 18, 1959. It was the fastest grossing film of 1959 being the 2nd highest grossing film at that time period. It won a record 11 Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Director (Wyler), Best Actor in a Leader Role (Heston), Best Actor in a Supporting Role (Griffith), etc. In 2004, the National Film Preservation Board selected Ben-Hur for preservation by the National Film Registry of the Library of Congress for being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant."
The movie of The Gospel in 2005 had old school themes mixed with a new school 21st century atmosphere. Its plot relates the story of the Parable of the Prodigal Son in the modern era. It was written and directed by Rob Hardy. It was produced by Will Packer. The cast of the film involve Boris Kodjoe, Idris Elba, Clifton Powell, and Nona Gaye. The film stars Davis, who is an artist who learns that his evangelical pastor father has prostate cancer. He comes to Atlanta to help his family out. Later, David gradually abandons his old life and becomes part of the church that caused Frank to have jealous. More gospel singers are in the film who are Yolanda Adams, Martha Munizzi, Fred Hammond, and Kirk Franklin.
One of the great gospel singers that promotes justice in the world was The Staple Singers. Freedom Highway was the title track of their 1965 live album. The song referenced the Selma Freedom Marches that took place in March of 1965. The song mentioned the evil murder of 14-year-old African American Emmett Till, who was lynched on August 28, 1955 in the Mississippi, Tallahatchie River. The song was a major staple of the civil rights movement. Their song of Why? (Am I Treated So Badly) is from their 1966 album of Why. It wanted to expose the evil of racism. The Staple Singer version of Stephen Still's For What It's Worth was a protest song. This was in 1967. Their 1968 song of Long Walk to D.C. is from their 1968 album Soul Folk in Action that wanted action on promoting civil rights and it protested the Vietnam War. The promotion of reparations for black people is found in their song of When Will Be Paid. It addressed slavery and the necessity for reparations. This is a Perfect World in 1971 and We The People in 1972 promoted unity and empowerment. The Staple Singers performed gospel music, soul music, and R&B music too. Their members were Roebuck Staples, Cleotha Staples, Mavis Staples, Pervis Staples, and Yvonne Staples. All of them were raised in the church in Chicago. Many of them were born in Mississippi as tons of people from the Midwest are Mississippi, Alabama, Louisiana, and other states of the Deep South.
In 2023, gospel music is still powerful like yesteryear. I Believe God is the song from Jekalyn Carr. Terrian had the son of Big God. You Kow My Name is a song made by Tasha Cobbs Leonard, one of the most gifted gospel singers of the younger generation. Kirk Franklin had the song of All Things. CeCe Winans had the song of The Blood. Ron Kenoly had the song of Exaltai. Anthony Brown and group Therapy had the record of Speak Your Name. Jeff and Sheri Easter made the song of Here Comes Jesus from their album of Treasure.
Zena Howard is one of the unsung architects of our generation. She overseen many high-profile projects. She was involved in the design of the National Museum of African American History and Culture. She graduated from Rocky Mount High School in Rocky Mount, North Carolina. She earned a B.S. degree in architecture form the University of Virginia. Howard is a Principal and Managing Director at Perkins + Will in Durham, North Carolina. She served as Senior Project Manager for the design of the National Museum of African American History and Culture, the International Civil Rights Center and Museum in Greensboro, North Carolina, and the Motown Museum expansion in Detroit, Michigan. She is a founding member of her firm's Global Diversity and Inclusion Committee and is involved in projects and initiatives that aim to increase the number of women and minority architects. She worked on many more projects like the Destination Crenshaw in Los Angeles, California, the Hogan's Alley Initiative in British Columbia, the Anacostia Library in Washington, D.C., etc. Now, Zena Howard is mentoring other black women and women of color to achieve their own dreams involving architecture, etc. Howard won an award for her work too. Ever since she was young, Zena Howard loved to draw and sketch information. There are over 400 African American women architects in America.
By Timothy
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